At one point in our lives, we have taken a picture with a camera. It is not a difficult task, and for the most part, it does not require significant premeditation. We may not completely value the image at the time it is taken, but we may be grateful later that we caught the moment in time forever. Our lives can be documented with images. This is what Allen Ginsberg, a well-known poet, discovered with age.
Ginsberg had interests similar to many other people in the world: love, drugs, and fame. He was always motivated to achieve the things he wanted most in life; thus, picking up new activities to expand his imagination and experience was a regular routine. As a young man in his late 20’s, he began to informally take photos of friends as personal mementos. His comrades from Columbia University would pose half naked for his photo-shoots. After encountering his male life partner in San Francisco, the couple went to India so Ginsberg could visually capture cultural sculptures and settings. These early photographs ignited the Beat generation of 1953. He was living his life to the fullest.
After losing cameras and resetting priorities, he forgot about his new-found hobby for twenty years. He broke his hiatus in 1983 when rediscovering the photos he took in the 50’s. It finally occurred to him that his history was present in the tangible form of art, and he wanted to continue to preserve the passing of time. He resumed the activity seriously; he purchased a new camera, researched ways to enhance his skill, and added annotations to his earlier works. Photographing the same people as before, Ginsberg’s approach was more artistically formal now that his friends were weathered by time. He wanted to show his audience how powerfully time and life affect us.
By picking up our own cameras, we can learn a similar lesson about time like Allen Ginsberg did. Hopefully, however, we can learn from his experience early so that we can appreciate our time now before it’s too late.
Some of Ginsberg’s photography can be seen here.
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I’ve always loved old black-and-white photographs, so I really enjoyed the photos taken by Ginsberg. I agree in that it is very important to capture moments when you’re in them, and I never get tired of looking back on old photos, therefore reliving memories. Interesting post.
I loveee taking pictures at events and at one point in my life I actually wanted to be a photographer. I think that photographs of anything can be beautiful when taken from the right angles. I actually read this article on the New York Times online while browsing through the arts section so, good pick :).
It is interesting to see this as an example of the self-awareness of artists. Also, we are spoiled in this time and era to have such a rich assortment of artifacts that allow us to see and hear into the world of 50 or 75 years ago.